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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26919052">Free hugs? Free hugs for your best friend Benrey?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rapono/pseuds/rapono'>rapono</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Gen, Gordon is nice to Benrey and doesn't regret it, Misunderstanding, hug, just a little bit of guilt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 01:14:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>681</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26919052</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rapono/pseuds/rapono</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Benrey often asked Gordon for things; his passport, a kiss, a month of playstation plus. Regardless of which it was, it was always the same answer: no. One time however, Gordon says yes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Benrey &amp; Gordon Freeman, Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Can be either</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>244</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Free hugs? Free hugs for your best friend Benrey?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>looks like I found new characters to project onto, and you know what that means? It's back to my self-indulgent (often angst-ridden) comfort bullshit. Watch me once again write multiple one-shots of the similar premise but a slightly different scenario.</p>
<p>Anyways I decided to write this one up before I go back to trying finish another HLVRAI oneshot I'm working on. That one ended up getting way longer than I meant it to be and I've likely still got a sizable chunk left to do. I needed a moment to step back and work on a simpler concept to both give me a break and help me feel more confident in my portrayal of them.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gordon was tired. And not just because he was having trouble sleeping. No, it was mostly because a certain security guard decided that not even death would stop him from annoying the fuck out of Gordon.</p>
<p>At least he had given up on asking for his passport.</p>
<p>Still, that didn’t mean that Benrey hadn't given up on requests. Now they were alot more physical, personal. A hug, a kiss, holding hands, and others of the like were suddenly what the guard wanted from him most. </p>
<p>Why? Was it to mock him if he took the bait? To play a nasty prank? Whatever his twisted motivation had to be, Gordon wasn't falling for it.  </p>
<p>A small part of him still felt bad when he saw the flicker of disappointment in the guard's eyes, the small burst of navy blue that he didn’t understand, but he quickly shoved such feelings away.</p>
<p>Gordon was reaching his limit when Benrey decided to saunter up to him today. The science team had taken a small break, and while Gordon attempted to use this time to regain his slipping sanity, it seemed the guard had other plans.</p>
<p>Benrey stopped not far from Gordon, pausing for a moment, as if he was trying to figure out what to say.</p>
<p>“free hug?”</p>
<p>Gordon's head snapped to him, shooting the guard an exasperated look, which didn’t seem to phase him. Instead, Benrey held out his arms, doing the grabby hands motion, as he looked at Gordon expectantly.</p>
<p>“free hug for your best friend benrey?”</p>
<p>Gordon nearly let out a choked laugh, only a small noise escaping his throat. Best friend? Really? Was Benrey really that dense to not get the hint, or was he simply mocking him? </p>
<p>He was growing so very tired of this. He just wanted to go home, to be with Joshua, to never see the damned guard again. Maybe, just maybe, if he indulged Benrey once, the fucker would leave him alone for a little while.</p>
<p>He just hoped he wouldn’t regret this.</p>
<p>“You know what Benrey? Fine, you can have one hug.”</p>
<p>Benrey's eyes lit up like a kid's on Christmas day, both surprised and ecstatic at the response. The reaction caught Gordon off guard, not expecting the genuine-looking glee.</p>
<p>“bro!!!!”</p>
<p>Benrey quickly scrambled over to him, bodyslamming Gordon a little with how eager he was for the hug, and wrapping his arms around a little too tightly, the HEV suit groaning slightly.</p>
<p>Oh. The request really had been genuine. Benrey really had wanted a hug. And that realization threw all his assumptions about Benrey through a loop.</p>
<p>“hug back please? where's benrey's free hugs? give hug please?”</p>
<p>Oh right. Gordon had been so shocked by the response he'd nearly forgotten about actually giving Benrey the hug. </p>
<p>Shaking his head for a moment to help get him out of his stupor, he wrapped his arms around Benrey, the guard letting out a loud stream of pink to magenta sweet voice. The guard seemed surprised by the outburst, even slightly embarrassed.</p>
<p>“You alright there Benrey?”</p>
<p>“mmmmmmm pretty epic bro. loving these gordon hugman moments, very pog of you.”</p>
<p>Gordon chuckled. </p>
<p>Even though he couldn’t really feel the hug as much as he wanted to, thanks to the HEV suit, this was still nice. It was like blue sweet voice, but without the taste of artificial raspberry, and a lot more pleasant. All the stress started to melt away, as if all he ever needed was to say yes to Benrey for once.</p>
<p>Perhaps he needed to be kinder to the guard from now on. Sure, Benrey was definitely going to continue to be annoying, he was almost certain of that, but perhaps his actions didn’t have as much malice as he had presumed. </p>
<p>And the guy seemed to be purring right now. Gordon held in the urge to laugh.</p>
<p>“Yeah, this is pretty epic.”</p>
<p>And so the two of them stayed there in a comfortable embrace, until Dr Coomer decided to check in on them with a very loud “HELLO GORDON” that made them both jump.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don't exactly have rhymes for the sweet voice, but I used a neat little color guide, so this is what they meant:<br/>Navy - sadness/upset<br/>Pink to magenta - very excited/happy/lovestruck</p></blockquote></div></div>
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